Vote for the best verboticism.

'The pants are blowing in the wind'

DEFINITION: n. A misheard or misunderstood lyric, which gives the song a completely different meaning than originally intended. v. To misinterpret a song because you "hear" different words than the ones actually being sung.

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Verboticisms

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Mangledupinblues

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: mang eld up in bloooze

Sentence: His mangledupinblues were frequent and severe, often leading to bouts of drinking alone in the basement of his hovel, wishing he was back home, awash in his subterrainian homesick booze

Etymology: tangled up in blue, mangled

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COMMENTS:

nice Dylan references - Jabberwocky, 2009-05-05: 11:18:00

Ah the times, they are a chainging! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:12:00

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Misconsturpulate

hyperborean

Created by: hyperborean

Pronunciation: mis-con-sterp-you-layt

Sentence: History Lesson: Dylan didn't want people to misconsturpulate "Subterranean Homesick Blues," so he wrote key lyrics on flash cards and displayed them during the song ... and filmed the whole thing. The music video was born.

Etymology: misconstrue (to misinterpret) + extrapolate (to infer [unknown information] from known information) + my quirky spelling and pronunciation sound funnier

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COMMENTS:

flawless, once again, word, etymology, and as always the sentence - DrWebster111, 2009-05-06: 00:31:00

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Misunderheard

mrskellyscl

Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: mis-under-herd

Sentence: Grandma shrugged, "You kids today with your hippity-hop and stupid lyrics -- why when I was young we had songs with meaning!" She sighed wistfully and began to sing to herself, "Knock, knock, knocking on Kevin's door." Grandpa stood up, "You've been singing that song wrong for the past 50 years, old woman. It's "Knock, knock knockin' on heaven's door" for crying out loud." "Well, I guess I misunderheard the lyrics, excuuuuuse me. And if you correct me again in front of the grandkids you'll be knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door sooner than you think."

Etymology: misunderstood: improperly understood or interpreted + heard

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COMMENTS:

wonderful word... - mweinmann, 2009-05-05: 08:34:00

I just noticed that you used one of the same song title's in your sentence as I did....only I think Kevin is funnier tha Evan!!! - mweinmann, 2009-05-05: 08:34:00

There's a herd of misunderheard today! Goodjob, mrsk! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:15:00

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Songfusion

Created by: mweinmann

Pronunciation: song - few - shun

Sentence: Leo, Saul and Carrie sang the 100 greatest rock ballads with great zeal and songfusion. Some of their favs' were Knockin' on Evan's Door, Only the Homely and Lady Hen Read. Although their harmonizing, music and enthusiasm was contageous, their lyrics were often quite different than the originals and often quite amusing. http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/best_balladsddd.html

Etymology: song, confusion, fuse (blend: mix together different elements)

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COMMENTS:

mrskellyscl I have a friend who spent years singing "Robbin the cashbox" for Rockin the Casbah" - mrskellyscl, 2009-05-05: 09:39:00

I always thought it was f--- the Casbah - actually if you listen closely you'll probably agree with me - Jabberwocky, 2009-05-05: 11:22:00

I always thought Johnny Rivers' sang "Secret Asian Man"...I mean really listen to those words and you would think the same! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:23:00

Hey, Secret Asian Man would be a great theme for a Jackie Chan movie! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:32:00

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Fudgeurlirics

Created by: jasjamson

Pronunciation: fudge ur leer ics

Sentence: Your fudgeurlirics has revamped that song completely!

Etymology: Fudge + your + lyrics

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Mondegreen

Created by: theodrixx

Pronunciation: Mawn-deh-green

Sentence: I discovered a mondegreen just the other day; I heard Jimi Hendrix's lyrics in Purple Haze, "excuse me while I kiss the sky" as being "excuse me while I kiss this guy."

Etymology: Named for an instance of this phenomenon during a reading of a poem, where in the line "and laid him on the green" was heard as "and Lady Mondegreen."

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COMMENTS:

nice one - galwaywegian, 2010-11-17: 18:52:00

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Melohdear

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: mel o deer

Sentence: Jackie Chan was motivated by a 1966 hit by Johnny Rivers. He said it inspired him to play the tough guys in all his many movies. While learning the English language, the melohdear which inspired his career was "Secret Asian Man"!

Etymology: Melody (tune;musical notes in sequence) & Oh Dear (worrying phrase when something goes wrong, like Oh, My;Oh, Drat, etc)

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Oopsydittie

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: oōpsēditē

Sentence: Everybody was used to hearing Jeff humming his favorite song as he went through his day. What they didn’t know until last Saturday night at the karaoke was that Jeff’s head contained an oopsydittie. As he belted out his fave, his friends realized he hadn’t gotten a single lyric right.

Etymology: oops (used to show recognition of a mistake or minor accident, often as part of an apology) + upsy-daisy (used to express encouragement to a child who has fallen or is being lifted) + dittie (a short simple song)

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Mystlyrical

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: mist/leer/i/cal

Sentence: One of the funniest mystlyricals I've heard was an interpretation of a line from the Eagles Hotel California 'On a dark desert highway, cool whip in my hair'

Etymology: mystical (secret)+ lyric + missed

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COMMENTS:

It's a lot like verbotomy...You can check out, but you can never leave! - Nosila, 2009-05-05: 22:17:00

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Moundofgreen

Created by: Eightbhall

Pronunciation: Mound-of-green

Sentence: Billy had been told that the classic Two Ronies Fork Handles scetch was based on a moundofgreen, which was strange as he remembered it being set in a shop and not a grassy hill. Either way he had seen it so often that it was now no longer funny but tired and stale; a moundofgreen-and mouldy.

Etymology: A possible mondegreen of the word mondegreen.

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-05-04: 00:01:01
Today's definition was suggested by mrskellyscl (misinterpreted words) and by abrakadeborah (misinterpreted meanings). And of course, by Bob Dylan's classic song about doing the laundry -- Blowing in the Wind ~ James

abrakadeborah - 2009-05-05: 01:02:00
Thank you James~ Cartoon was great! & To mrskellyscl,Oh how I can relate to that one! I have an ex boyfriend that no matter what song he hears NONE of the words match as he tries to sing along! Too funny! :) LOL

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-11-17: 00:36:00
Today's definition was suggested by mrskellyscl. Thank you mrskellyscl. ~ James